Next Thing Co made headlines in 2015 by launching a $9 computer-on-a-module called the CHIP. A few months ago the company introduced a new set of products including the $16 CHIP Pro, which is a hacker-friendly module with an aRM-based processor and 256MB of RAM, and a $49 CHIP Pro Dev Kit to help DIY folks build their own hardware.
Now the company is showing off some of that hardware at the Consumer Electronics Show.
One of the simpler projects is a volume meter that uses two microphones and LED lights to show VU levels in real-time.
There’s also a satellite data radio system, and a record player that can scrobble data from vinyl with data from Spotify and the company can use that data to send you records you might enjoy.
The CHIP Pro is powered by a 1 GHz Allwinner R8 ARM Cortex-A8 processor with Mali-400 graphics. It also has 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 and two microphones built in.
At the heart of the system is the GR8 chip, which has the CPU and memory. It’s available for even less than the $16 you’d pay for the CHIP Pro, but you’ll need to know how to connect it to a system board in order to use it. Unlike the original CHIP, which was available for hackers and basic PC users alike, the GR8 and CHIP Pro are really aimed at hackers and developers.